Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting

Using a travel guide format, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee acts as tour guide extraordinaire, describing and critiquing every aspect of this territory she knows so well: its people (young and old, male and female), familiar phrases ("purl this, darn that"), strange beliefs, currency (skein trading), etiquette, holidays (any sale day at the local yarn shop), and customs. She notes important dates in knitting history and celebrates unsung knitting heroes.

Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World

Building on the success of The Yarn Whisperer, Clara Parkes' rich personal essays invite listeners and devoted crafters on excursions to be savored, from a guide who quickly comes to feel like a trusted confidante. In Knitlandia, she takes listeners along on 17 of her most memorable journeys across the globe over the last 15 years, with stories spanning from the fjords of Iceland to a cozy yarn shop in Paris' 13th arrondissement.

The Yarn Whisperer: My Unexpected Life in Knitting

In The Yarn Whisperer: Reflections on a Life in Knitting, renowned knitter and author Clara Parkes ponders the roles knitting plays in her life via 22 captivating, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny essays. Recounting tales of childhood and adulthood, family, friends, adventure, privacy, disappointment, love, and celebration, she hits upon the universal truths that drive knitters to create and explores the ways in which knitting can be looked at as a metaphor for so many other things.

Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting

In Knitting Yarns, twenty-seven writers tell stories about how knitting healed, challenged, or helped them to grow. Poignant, funny, and moving, Knitting Yarns is sure to delight knitting enthusiasts and lovers of literature alike.

Love in Every Stitch: Stories of Knitting and Healing

As an employee of three different yarn stores, a teacher of countless knitting classes, and a volunteer with at-risk youth, Lee has had the opportunity to gather diverse stories. The stories she shares about herself and fellow knitters from around the world illustrate how each stitch and purl can comfort and calm, heal and renew. A suicidal teenager crochets through pregnancy. A dying woman finds comfort in the company of knitters.

Knitting Pearls: Writers Writing About Knitting

The rhythm, ritual, and pleasure of knitting are celebrated in this new collection for lovers of both knitting and literature. In Knitting Pearls, two dozen writers write about the transformative and healing powers of knitting. Lily King remembers the year her family lived in Italy, and a knitted hat that helped her daughter adjust to her new home. Laura Lippman explores how converting to Judaism changed not only Christmas but also her mother's gift of a knitted stocking.

Sheepish: Two Women, Fifty Sheep, and Enough Wool to Save the Planet

What do you do when you love your farm...but it doesn’t love you? After 15 years of farming, Catherine Friend is tired. After all, while shepherding is one of the oldest professions, it’s not getting any easier. The number of sheep in America has fallen by 90 percent in the last 90 years. But just as Catherine thinks it’s time to hang up her shepherd’s crook, she discovers that sheep might be too valuable to give up. What ensues is a funny, thoughtful romp through the history of our woolly friends, why small farms are important, and how each one of us - and the planet - would benefit from being very sheepish, indeed.

Spinning Forward

Syd never considered the possibility of turning her passion for spinning and knitting into something more than a hobby, but when the unique composition of her wool draws attention, a door is opened - the first among many. Yet even as she ventures out of her comfort zone, Syd finds herself stepping into the embrace of a community rich with love, laughter, friendship...and secrets. And as long-hidden truths are revealed, Syd faces a choice: spin a safety net - or spin decidedly forward and never look back...

The Shepherd's Life: Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape

Some people's lives are entirely their own creations. James Rebanks' isn't. He's the first son of a shepherd who was the first son of a shepherd himself; his family have lived and worked in the Lake District of Northern England for generations, further back than recorded history. It's a part of the world known mainly for its romantic descriptions by Wordsworth and the much-loved illustrated children's books of Beatrix Potter. But James' world is quite different. His way of life is ordered by the seasons and the work they demand.

Last Wool and Testament: A Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery, Book 1

Thank Goodness It's Fiber: That's the name of the spunky group of fiber and needlework artists founded by Ivy McClellan, Kath's beloved grandmother. Though Ivy has recently passed on, the members still meet regularly at her fiber and fabric shop, The Weaver's Cat, which Kath has now inherited. But that's only the first in a series of surprises when Kath returns to the small town of Blue Plum, Tennessee, to settle her grandmother's affairs

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd: A Flavia de Luce Novel, Book 8

In spite of being ejected from Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in Canada, 12-year-old Flavia de Luce is excited to be sailing home to England. But instead of a joyous homecoming, she is greeted on the docks with unfortunate news: Her father has fallen ill, and a hospital visit will have to wait while he rests. But with Flavia's blasted sisters and insufferable cousin underfoot, Buckshaw now seems both too empty - and not empty enough.

Neanderthal Marries Human: A Smarter Romance: Knitting in the City, Book 1.5

After just five months of dating Janie, Quinn - former Wendell and unapologetic autocrat - is ready to propose marriage. In fact he's more than ready. If it were up to Quinn, he would efficiently propose, marry, and beget Janie with child all in the same day - thereby avoiding the drama and angst that accompanies the four stages of prematrimony: engagement; meeting the parents; bachelor/bachelorette party; and overblown, superfluous wedding day traditions.

The Bookshop on the Corner

Nina Redmond is a librarian with a gift for finding the perfect books for her readers. But can she write her own happy ever after? In this valentine to readers, librarians, and book lovers the world over, the New York Times best-selling author of Little Beach Street Bakery returns with a funny, moving new novel for fans of Meg Donohue, Sophie Kinsella, and Nina George's The Little Paris Bookshop.

Knit One, Kill Two: A Knitting Mystery, Book 1

Kelly Flynn never picked up a pair of knitting needles she liked—until she strolled into House of Lambspun. Now, in the first in a brand-new series, she learns how to knit one, purl two, and untangle the mystery behind her aunt's murder.

After losing her boyfriend, apartment, and job in the same day, Janie Morris can't help wondering what new torment fate has in store. To her utter mortification, Quinn Sullivan- aka Sir McHotpants- witnesses it all then keeps turning up like a pair of shoes you lust after but can't afford. The last thing she expects is for Quinn - the focus of her slightly, albeit harmless, stalkerish tendencies - to make her an offer she can't refuse.

The Jane Austen BBC Radio Drama Collection: Six BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisations

A collection of BBC radio full-cast dramatisations of Jane Austen's six major novels. Jane Austen is one of the finest writers in the English language, and this volume includes all six of her classic novels. Mansfield Park: on a quest to find a position in society, Fanny Price goes to live with her rich aunt and uncle. Northanger Abbey: young, naïve Catherine Morland receives an invitation to stay at the isolated Gothic mansion Northanger Abbey.

The Frozen Lake: A Vintage Mystery

Fabulous family saga of secrets held through two generations, set against the atmospheric background of the Lake District at Christmas. The year 1936 is drawing to a close. Winter grips Wetmoreland and causes a rare phenonmenon: The lakes freeze. For two local families, the Richardsons and the Grindleys, this will bring unexpected upheaval, as the frozen lake entices long-estranged siblings and children to return home for the holiday season.

Spill Simmer Falter Wither

A debut novel already praised as "unbearably poignant and beautifully told" (Eimear McBride), this captivating story follows - over the course of four seasons - a misfit man who adopts a misfit dog. It is springtime, and two outcasts - a man ignored, even shunned by his village, and the one-eyed dog he takes into his quiet, tightly shuttered life - find each other, by accident or fate, and forge an unlikely connection. As their friendship grows, their small seaside town suddenly takes note of them.

Ross Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1783-1787

Ross Poldark returns to Cornwall from war, looking forward to a joyful homecoming with his family and his beloved Elizabeth. But instead, he discovers that his father has died, his home is overrun by livestock and drunken servants, and Elizabeth, having believed Ross dead, is now engaged to his cousin. Ross must start over, building a completely new path for his life, one that takes him in exciting and unexpected directions....

Miss Marple's Final Cases: Three new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas

June Whitfield stars as Miss Marple in three brand-new BBC Radio 4 dramatisations. The short stories on which the adaptations are based were published in a variety of magazines during Agatha Christie's lifetime and then collected posthumously as the audiobook Miss Marple's Final Cases.

The Knitting Circle

After the sudden loss of Stella, her only child, Mary Baxter joins a knitting circle in Providence, Rhode Island. Seeking a way to fill the empty hours and lonely days, she little realizes that the circle will change her life.

The Possibility Dogs: What a Handful of 'Unadoptables' Taught Me about Service, Hope, and Healing

From the author of the critically acclaimed bestseller, Scent of the Missing, comes a heartwarming and inspiring story that shows how dogs can be rescued and can rescue in return. For her first book, Susannah Charleson was praised for her unique insight into the kinship between humans and dogs, as revealed through canine search and rescue. In The Possibility Dogs Charleson chronicles her journey into the world of psychiatric-service and therapy dogs trained to serve the human mind, a journey that began as a personal one. After a particularly grisly search led to a struggle with PTSD, Charleson credits healing to her partnership with search dog Puzzle. Inspired by that experience and having met dogs formally trained to assist in such crises, Charleson learns to identify abandoned dogs with service potential, often plucking them from shelters at the last minute, and to train them for work beside hurting partners, to whom these second-chance dogs bring intelligence, comfort, and hope.

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things

Audie Award, Humor, 2016. In Furiously Happy, number-one New York Times best-selling author Jenny Lawson explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea. But terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.

Burying the Honeysuckle Girls

Althea Bell is still heartbroken by her mother's tragic, premature death - and tormented by the last, frantic words she whispered into young Althea's ear: Wait for her. For the honeysuckle girl. She'll find you, I think, but if she doesn't, you find her. Adrift ever since, Althea is now fresh out of rehab and returning to her family home in Mobile, Alabama, determined to reconnect with her estranged, ailing father.

Publisher's Summary

The "Yarn Harlot" takes time away from her knitting to offer observations, meditations, reflections, and rants to soothe and delight the knitter's unraveled soul.

Like golfing, fishing, and gardening, knitting is an obsession. It's an activity fraught with guilt, frustration, over-optimism, sly deception, and compulsion, along with passionate moments of creative enlightenment - not to mention heaps of yarn you really think you'll knit someday. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee totally understands. In this hilarious collection of tangled reflections, she offers ample reassurance for anyone who has ever wondered, "Am I alone in my mania?"

Casting off with some of her favorite quotations, she muses on why it's impossible to knit too much, how many calories knitting burns (about 90 an hour, not counting the extra for retrieving your ball of yarn from under the couch), and when it's alright to stalk a man in the grocery store (not because he's good-looking, but because he's wearing an Aran sweater you want to know how to knit).

The first step toward recovery is getting help - and having a good laugh at your compulsion. At Knit's End is a wicked and wickedly funny fix for any knitter.

The Yarn Harlot goes a long way toward explaining why there is no limit to the lengths knitters will go to over yarn. Blog-to-book is not always easy to pull off, but in this case, Blog-to-book-to-audio = success! I'd go into more detail, but I'm on my way to my local yarn store, I heard there's a sale on DK cashmerino...

I am addicted to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee!!!! Between knitting and her humor I could not stop laughing. She says what we think but do not say as a knitter. If you are not a knitter, this book will make no sense. I highly recommend you learn to knit and enjoy this gal's humor. I have never listened to a book 3 times in a row and can go for a fourth time. The Yarn Harlot you are the BEST!

Funny book, but a little extreme. ..It's probably only funny for knitters. Easy, short listen. If you want to listen to a book about a corny women who knit to much, or you are addicted to knitting, this is it :)

A former accountant and staff trainer. Now retired, I enjoy knitting and weaving. I enjoy intelligent, insightful books with lead characters I respect. I deplore novels fille with gratuitous violence and depraved sexual behavior written to shock the reader.

First of all, I'm a voracious knitter. Second, I'm a fan of the author. I have two of her books in audible form, and they are my "keepers" -- ones I never delete, and go back to from time to time to sample excerpts when I need a relaxing chuckle.

If you're not a knitter, you probably won't appreciate the humor. But if you ARE a knitster, don't miss this book!

I have historically been a solo knitter. My world has opened up to me as I have been finding my fellowship of knitters. This author has shared about things that I thought I was the only one in the entire world that felt this way. We knitters are coming out of the (yarn) closet!

I am sorry, but after reading so many "great book" reviews I had to add mine...
This is real bad book. I mean super bad. I only listened till the end as I was too far from my PC to switch it off and was making French butter cream and had to keep on stirring. What a suffering inflicted! I didn't find it funny, I didn't find it entertaining and I am a knitter. It was waste of time, money and attention. Believe me, get yourself a good crime novel instead, much better for knitting, spinning and cooking.

Eva

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Natalia

United Kingdom

1/1/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Not quite right for audio"

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The book is obviously written in short 'chunks' which doesn't work as an audiobook - it is too bitsy and has no flow and doesn't work well as a listening experience.

What was most disappointing about Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s story?

I have previously liked listening to Pearl-McPhee's books in audio format, so it is a disappointment this one is not good to listen to

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Katie

12/27/12

Overall

"A light laugh for knitters everywhere"

I'm rather a knitter, and Ioved this little book. It's quite funny, and if you're anything like me, you'll be recognising yourself in it! I haven't quite got to the stage where I take my knitting with me to weddings, but to be honest I'm really not that far off. For knitters everywhere, this is a lovely little listen - you can even knit and listen at the same time! Enjoy.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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